As President of our HOA, that consists of 306 homes in three different neighborhoods that comprise our community, I am at the epicenter of what’s going on around us. For the most part, we have people who follow the rules and seek permission to do things correctly – I really appreciate them. But we also have several folks who ruin it for the rest of us.
Throughout the years, I have been made aware of people who dump their grass clippings off their property along fence lines and would rather do that than expend a little effort bagging their leaves or grass. And it’s the same people year after year, even when they have been warned and sent letters informing them that we know who they are! Unbelievable! One year, there was a guy who dumped his Christmas tree in the lake rather than set it out for the garbage after the Christmas holiday.
And there are those who just do what they want to do without regard for the neighbors or what may be in the best interest of our entire community. Several years go, I actually had to get involved with the police when one family was flying drones over the lake and used the onboard camera to peer into windows of other families. In fact, we ourselves were actually victims of this attempt to disrupt the lives of community homeowners. In that instance, it was our dog who noticed strange lights outside our kitchen window at dusk – it turned out to be a drone looking in our windows. Did you know that there are four different agencies that have overlapping rules about flying drones – including the FAA? We are talking some serious infractions.
But far and away, the greatest issues we face are dogs that are off leash when they are on walks with their owners through the neighborhood. I know that this may sound petty, but there are leash laws in Carmel – and many of these dog walkers do what they want even if it hurts others. We have had instances where dogs have nipped people and/or other animals and, once again, we have experienced this first hand. To be charged by a loose dog can be a very frightening experience.
Like other communities, we have the chronic abusers. Even notifying them time after time, they still try to get around the laws of the community as long as it suits them. Frankly, we have a very desirable neighborhood and it takes vigilance to keep it nice and inviting for the families who live here. It is a constant battle to protect our three neighborhoods and spend the time, and sometimes money, to keep the entire community as a wonderful place to live and raise a family.
In addition to the dogs that roam the area off lead, we have a number of owners who refuse to clean up after their pets. We even have pet stations with trash cans and reams of free doggie bags to clean up after your pet. We can’t make it much easier. There are many of these pet stations, regularly re-stocked with plastic bags and the trash bins are routinely emptied. Here again, we spare no expense in attempting to maintain a well run community.
Janet and I have walked our dogs for years. Most of the time, we stay in our own neighborhood, but every once in a while, we will walk through a neighboring community – just for change of scenery. Such was the case earlier this week when we took Eva for a rather short walk. As we were heading down a street close to our home, we noticed a “pile” in the front yard of a well maintained home. Clearly, someone didn’t bother to clean up after their pet – admittedly, that bothers me. As we continued to walk down the street, I noticed something in the yard next door. At first, I thought it was a piece of paper, or some other sort of trash. But as we got closer, I had to chuckle at a small yard sign near the sidewalk that simply proclaimed, “No Trespooping.” While I was smiling at the reminder, I also thought that it was sad that someone had to go to the trouble to place something like this in their yard. Why don’t people respect the property of others?
When I was a young boy, I kept hearing about that familiar phrase, “do under other as you would have them do unto you.” I even remember in Sunday school being taught that this was something to think about – but it wasn’t in the Bible. It was one of those seemingly nice platitudes that people should want to follow. So imagine my surprise when I discovered in my reading of the Bible, that there is a biblical mandate to treat others as you want to be treated. Who knew!
That’s our verse for this evening. The good Doctor Luke tells gives us the words of Jesus Himself, who tells us in Luke 6:31, “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” Not only that, the disciple Matthew give us a similar instruction. He tells us, in Matthew 7:12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” There you have it. Not once, but twice! We are to be kind and do unto others…
My encouragement this evening is that we all have room for improvement. But wouldn’t it be great to live in a kinder, gentler community of like minded people? My prayer is that with continuing education and diligence, we will be able to walk together side by side in greater unity, rather than so much of the decisiveness that we experience today, in all walks of our lives. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…